In brief
Dan Ashworth’s transfer history is mixed, with low-risk acquisitions frequently bringing in young, unproven players.
During Ashworth’s tenure, the most notable additions have been Tariq Lamptey, Anthony Gordon, Marc Cucurella, Kaoru Mitoma, Nick Pope, Evan Ferguson, Leandro Trossard, Alexis Mac Allister, Alexander Isak, and Moises Caicedo.
Although Moises Caicedo’s brief tenure at Old Trafford wasn’t particularly successful, his signing stands out as the largest success, as his transfer value increased from £4 million to £115 million in just over two years.
Although Dan Ashworth was only Manchester United’s sporting director for five months, rumours have it that Arsenal is already interested in hiring him after his unexpected departure. His outstanding performance in the transfer market is the reason for this desire. Even while things might not have gone according to plan at Old Trafford, a team’s loss could be another’s benefit.
Ashworth has a reputation for using magic to find players for his teams, and he has done it multiple times for the Seagulls and the Magpies. The former sports director of Newcastle managed 33 transactions in total while he was at the Amex and St. James’ Park, and five more during his brief stay with the Red Devils. Over the years, he has signed some extremely talented stars, though not all of them were hits.
Every single move Ashworth managed at Brighton, Newcastle, and United has been ranked to offer the supporters in north London an idea of what they could be able to anticipate at the club, as he is perhaps going to work his magic with the Gunners. In order to do this, a number of elements have been taken into account, such as the amount spent and the player’s contribution to the team’s performance. Let’s get started right now.
Each Dan Ashworth acquisition was ranked
Rank
The player
Club
Transfer charge
38.
Mooy, Aaron
Brighton
£5 million
37.
Zeqiri Andi
Brighton
£3.5 million
36.
Karbownik, Michal
Brighton
£5 million
35.
Khadra Reda
Brighton
Free
34.
Kozlowski, Kacper
Brighton
£8 million
33.
Sima Abdallah
Brighton
£7 million
32.
Jakub Moder
Brighton
£6 million
31.
Sarmiento, Jeremy
Brighton
Unknown
30.
Karius Loris
Newcastle
Free
29.
Ashby Harrison
Newcastle
£3 million
28.
Zirkzee, Joshua
United Manchester
£36.5 million
27.
De Ligt, Matthijs
United Manchester
£42.9 million
26.
Undav Deniz
Brighton
£6 million
25.
Mwepu Enock
Brighton
£20 million
24.
Targett, Matt
Newcastle
£15 million
23.
Yoro Leny
United Manchester
£58.9 million
22.
Ugarte, Manuel
United Manchester
£50 million
21.
Barnes, Harvey
Newcastle
£38 million
20.
Tonali Sandro
Newcastle
£60 million
19.
Maupay, Neal
Brighton
£20 million
18.
Livramento Tino
Newcastle
£32 million
17.
Van Hecke, Jan Paul
Brighton
£1.8 million
16.
Welbeck, Danny
Brighton
Free
15.
Lallana, Adam
Brighton
Free
14.
Webster, Adam
Brighton
£20 million
13.
Veltman, Joel
Brighton
£900,000.
12.
Botman, Sven
Newcastle
£31.8 million
11.
Lamptey Tariq
Brighton
£5 million
10.
Mazraoui, Noussair
United Manchester
£17.9 million
9.
Cucurella Marc
Brighton
£15.4 million
8.
Mitoma Kaoru
Brighton
£2.6 million
7.
Gordon, Anthony
Newcastle
£45 million
6.
Pope, Nick
Newcastle
£10 million
5.
Ferguson, Evan
Brighton
Free
4.
Trossard, Leandro
Brighton
£15 million
3.
Allister, Alexis Mac
Brighton
£6.9 million
2.
Isak, Alexander
Newcastle
£63 million
1.
Caicedo Moises
Brighton
£4 million
38–21
Even though Ashworth is renowned for his amazing job in the transfer market, he has had his share of setbacks. The sporting director has occasionally made some rather bad signings. However, most of the mistakes on his record were low-risk acquisitions that brought in young, unproven players at a discount.
Andi Zeqiri, Michal Karbownik, Reda Khadra, Kacper Kozlowski, Abdallah Sima, Jakub Moder, Jeremy Sarmiento, Harrison Ashby, and Enock Mwepu are all examples of this. Ashworth signed Aaron Mooy in 2020 for £5 million, but he left after only eight months, making him Brighton’s worst acquisition to yet. Although injuries have plagued Matt Targett’s time at Newcastle, he still has an opportunity to make things better.
Before a heart ailment caused him to quit early last year, Mwepu looked good for Brighton and could have been a far better signing. Although it’s difficult to be too critical of the trade because Loris Karius was signed for nothing at all, it hasn’t been a success as he has only played in two seasons.
According to rumours, Dan Ashworth had little influence over transfers during his brief spell at Old Trafford after his abrupt departure. Rather, he was excluded from important choices virtually from the beginning, which may account for the poor performance of four of his five United acquisitions.
Although Joshua Zirkzee was brought in as a powerful striker, he has a history of wasting easy scoring chances. He has been criticised for his slow movement in front of goal, and his 11 Premier League games without a goal give little hope for improvement.
Matthijs de Ligt has also had trouble; he has made a number of defensive mistakes that have resulted in goals. Leny Yoro and Manuel Ugarte, however, have had few chances to contribute to a drab United team. There is still hope that Yoro’s performances may improve over time, though, given he was the most expensive teenage signing in Premier League history, fetching a record £58.9 million. Fortunately, Ashworth’s record is still rather strong outside of these bottom 18 acquisitions.
20-11
We had a lot more success moving into the top 20 thanks to Ashworth’s previous hiring. Some players, like Neal Maupay, have made a good, although unimpressive, contribution to their teams, while others, like Harvey Barnes and Sandro Tonali, haven’t had the opportunity to establish themselves yet. These players missed significant portions of their first seasons at Newcastle for completely different reasons.
Jan Paul van Hecke and Tino Livramento are similar businesspeople who want to create for the future. Both have emerged as important characters for their respective teams after a sluggish start. Adam Webster, Joel Veltman, and Sven Botman have all been strong defensive players for their teams, and Danny Welbeck and Adam Lallana have both seen a career comeback in Brighton.
Botman’s injury last season was a huge setback for the Magpies, and you only need to consider how significant the transfer has been for the team thus far. When healthy, Ashworth’s choice of the Dutch international is among the top center-backs in the Premier League at the moment.
10Noussair Mazraoui
Bayern Munich to Manchester United (£17.9m)
After joining the team for £17.9 million, Noussair Mazraoui has already had a significant impact. He has demonstrated his reliability and adaptability under new head coach Ruben Amorim, playing well for United this season as a full-back and in a back three.
Mazraoui has been a constant in United’s Premier League, Europa League, and League Cup games since joining from Bayern Munich in the summer for a comparatively little cost. He has appeared in every game thus far. He was nominated for the club’s November Player of the Month award for his outstanding performances, which provided much-needed consistency to United’s defence, which has been weak in recent years.
The former full-back, who has swiftly established himself as one of the top right-backs in the Premier League at the moment, will not be amused by the trade that saw Bayern send De Ligt out of Germany.
9Marc Cucurella
Getafe to Brighton (£15m)
Ashworth has a strong track record of identifying previously undiscovered talent and turning them into well-known celebrities. He accomplished just that with Marc Cucurella, acquiring the Spaniard from Getafe following a few strong La Liga seasons. He paid less than £15 million to sign the full-back and took him to Brighton.
He soon showed why that was also a brilliant move by performing brilliantly for the club on the south coast. Before receiving a significant financial transfer to Chelsea, he won both the club’s Player of the Season award and the Player’s Player of the Season award during his one-year stay at Brighton. They sold him for three times what they originally paid, just a year after he joined the team. Ashworth’s business is excellent.
8Kaoru Mitoma
Kawasaki Frontale to Brighton (£2.5m)
One of the biggest success stories in recent years is Kaoru Mitoma. The winger, who played in his native Japan for his whole career, only paid £2.5 million to join Brighton in 2021. Before returning to the Amex last year prepared to play a significant role for his new team, he played his first season on loan at Union SG in Belgium.
Yes, he did that, too. The 26-year-old scored 10 goals in 41 games during his stellar debut season in England last year. Although his second season wasn’t quite as successful, with only three goals, he has still been a tremendous value for the team. Since relocating to England, his transfer value has skyrocketed, and he has shown himself to be a very astute Ashworth businessman.
7Anthony Gordon
Everton to Newcastle (£45m)
Anthony Gordon’s move to Newcastle started slowly, much like Lamptey’s at Brighton. For a short while, it seemed a bit silly to invest £45 million on him because he had trouble settling in at St. James’ Park. However, it is no longer the case. The winger was outstanding for the Magpies during the 2023–24 season and made a significant contribution to Eddie Howe’s team on the pitch.
Barnes has had difficulty replacing him in the starting lineup since his injury return, which is evidence of how excellent he was for the team. He performed exceptionally well, scoring 11 goals and providing 11 assists in all competitions. Gordon has been an undisputed success and is also well-liked by Newcastle supporters, who were instantly won over by his enthusiasm.
6Nick Pope
Burnley to Newcastle (Free)
Nick Pope joined Newcastle after Burnley’s Premier League relegation, costing the team under £10 million. He has also been a steal for the Magpies, who made it to the Champions League for the first time in twenty years last year thanks to some outstanding goalkeeping displays.
Before an injury kept him out of action for a significant chunk of the season, he maintained that form last season, putting on several strong displays and even making one of the best saves in recent memory. He’s been an excellent purchase, especially considering how inexpensive he was.
5Evan Ferguson
Bohemians to Brighton (nominal)
Evan Ferguson might rank even higher on this list in a few years. In fact, given his present level of potential, there’s a very high chance he might be at the top of the list. Even though the attacker is only 19 years old, he has already scored 16 goals for Brighton, and his current transfer worth is 100 times greater than it was when he joined the team.
Ferguson’s future is incredibly bright, and when he reaches his prime, there’s a good chance he’ll rank among the world’s top attackers. He is now only a very reliable addition to Brighton’s roster, but he has the potential to be one of the greatest transfers of all time.
4Leandro Trossard
Genk to Brighton (£15m)
Leandro Trossard’s signing was one of Ashworth’s first tasks after joining Brighton. The technical director had taken notice of the midfielder, who had established himself at Genk in Belgium. The star spent three and a half years on the south coast before being brought to the Premier League for less than £15 million.
With every season that went by, Trossard improved, and by the time he left for Arsenal last January, he had made 122 appearances for Brighton and scored 25 goals. Since joining the Gunners, he has shown just as much promise, demonstrating the talent Ashworth had when he signed the Belgian nearly five years ago.
3Alexis Mac Allister
Argentinos Juniors to Brighton (£6.9m)
Alexis Mac Allister, another player recruited to Brighton in Ashworth’s first season there, has followed in Trossard’s footsteps and is currently a member of one of the Premier League’s top teams. The fact that the Argentine earned a lucrative move to Liverpool last summer is evidence of how good he was at the Seagulls.
Before turning a significant profit for the Seagulls when he moved to Anfield, Mac Allister played 112 games and scored 20 goals during his four years there. The Argentine, who originally only cost £6.9 million, sold for £35 million, demonstrating Ashworth’s amazing talent for finding amazing treasures at a discount and then turning them into enormous riches.
2Alexander Isak
Real Sociedad to Newcastle (£63m)
Although Alexander Isak is by far the most expensive player Ashworth has ever purchased, he is also among the greatest additions the current Newcastle sporting director has ever made. The forward has already had great success with the Magpies and has emerged as one of the Premier League’s top strikers.
He joined the team in the summer of 2022 and has already made 67 appearances, scoring 35 goals. He has already made an amazing comeback, and if he keeps playing at the calibre he has been for Newcastle, he will soon become a St. James’s fan favourite.
1Moises Caicedo
Independiente del Valle to Brighton (£4m)
Without a doubt, Ashworth’s brilliant signing of Moises Caicedo with Brighton in 2021 was the greatest triumph of his recruitment career to date. The midfield player had risen through the ranks at Ecuador’s Independiente del Valle prior to the transfer, but when they paid £4 million to bring him to England, he was not well-known.
His second season with the Seagulls was a huge success after an initial bedding-in period. He was voted the club’s Player of the Season and the Player’s Player of the Season after his first full season with the team, following in Cucurella’s footsteps.
He rose to become one of the most sought-after stars in football, and when Chelsea paid £115 million for him last summer, it became the most expensive British transfer ever. Although Ashworth wasn’t around to enjoy the final profits, he was in charge of bringing Caicedo to Brighton in the first place, and making £111 million in just over two years is an incredible business venture.
